Day 8 – The Gym

I’ve been trying to hike on weekends, but this weekend it’s just not going to happen. I had a hike planned for today but one of my friends has had the worst week ever, so I put off the hike to have lunch with her instead. I figured I’d meet her and then walk to the gym after lunch. She ended up working late, so that plan fell through without enough daylight left for a hike. The gym it is.

Here’s one problem I have with gyms – they close too early. I am not a morning person. I don’t care if the gym opens at 4am. I like to work out at 8 or 9pm and gyms that close early do me no good. The Belmont Athletic Club is usually open until 10pm, but only until 8pm on Saturdays. I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it with enough time left for a good workout, but I did!

Today was Week 5, Run 2 and every single run is kicking it up a notch now. This one was tough, but I made it through without walking which was quite an accomplishment for me. The hard part about running at the gym on a Saturday night though is that I sweat. And I live close enough to the gym that I’d rather just walk home and shower in my very own shower. This means that on my way home from the gym in my friendly little beach neighborhood, I am likely to run into someone I know. If not someone I know, I’ll still run into the whole Saturday night crowd with everyone all dressed up for the restaurants and bars on 2nd Street. This sucks when I’m in gym clothes, no makeup, stringy post-workout hair, and my face completely red from a hard workout.

I’ve planned a course between the gym and my house that minimizes the likelihood that I’ll have to interact with the Night Out Crowd directly. My biggest challenge is getting to the end of the block that the gym is on, since it’s right in the middle of the nightlife. But if I go to the left, cross at the light before the restaurant, then walk on the other side of the street until I get to the residential area, I miss a lot of the activity. There are always fewer people walking near the banks, the dry cleaner, and the mobile phone stores than near the restaurants and bars. This route is still dangerous though, as it takes me past Frosted Cupcakery and SuperMex, which are two of my biggest challenges along the way. Getting past them is like getting past the First and Second Steps on Everest. Okay, well, maybe not quite. But it’s tough, let me tell ya!

Today, I made it through the gantlet relatively unscathed, although I did get a few funny looks from neighbors walking in the other direction, all dressed up for a night on the town. Doesn’t matter though. I made it to the gym. I ran. That’s all that really counts. 🙂

Comments

Ah, but I won’t *really* be alone! That’s where ACTIVE Himalayas comes in. I went to Peru on one of their trips “alone,” and met so many wonderful new friends on the trip. I didn’t feel alone at all. (And no, I don’t work for them! LOL!) 🙂